Brighton 22/23 — De Zerbi's Euro Seagulls: Full Squad & Ratings

Brighton 2022/23 season — all 18 players rated, best XI, and how to draft them in 38-0.

Brighton 2022/23 — Season Story

Brighton and Hove Albion's 2022/23 season was the season the Seagulls stopped being a survival club and became one of the most admired teams in Europe. When Graham Potter left for Chelsea in September 2022, the club gambled on Roberto De Zerbi, an Italian coach with a reputation for beautiful football and a background in the lower reaches of Serie A. The gamble paid off beyond anyone's imagination.

De Zerbi's football was a revelation: Brighton out-passed almost everyone they faced, building from the back with a confidence rarely seen outside the elite, and pressing high with coordinated fury. The stats were extraordinary for a club of Brighton's size — only the traditional top six had more possession and more passes per game. By the end of the season they had finished sixth, their highest league position in history, and qualified for Europe for the first time.

The individual stories made the season special. Alexis Mac Allister returned from winning the World Cup with Argentina in December and ran midfield with the authority of a player transformed. Moises Caicedo, who had spent January at the centre of a transfer saga with Arsenal, stayed, kept performing, and left for Chelsea in the summer for a British record fee. Kaoru Mitoma, signed the previous summer for a modest sum, became the most exciting dribbler in the league, leaving full-backs in his wake all season.

There was heartbreak too: a semi-final defeat to Manchester United on penalties in the FA Cup, when a first major trophy was within touching distance. But the league form carried them home, and the 2022/23 Brighton squad — young, fearless, technically superb — became the template for how a well-run club can break the Premier League glass ceiling.

The De Zerbi Revolution

No coach changed a club's identity faster. De Zerbi arrived mid-season and immediately demanded that his defenders play out from the back even when it was risky, that the goalkeeper join the build-up, and that every player on the pitch be comfortable receiving the ball under pressure. Brighton's matches became lessons in possession football — they regularly out-passed teams like Liverpool and Manchester United.

The numbers were staggering: over 500 passes per game in many matches, the highest pressing intensity outside the top six, and a style that visiting managers openly admitted they could not prepare for. De Zerbi's methods made stars of players other clubs had overlooked, and within a year he was being linked with the biggest jobs in Europe — a measure of how quickly Brighton's football captured the imagination.

The Caicedo Saga

Moises Caicedo began the season as a promising 20-year-old and ended it as the most wanted midfielder in world football. In January, Arsenal made a bid believed to be around 70 million pounds; Brighton refused, Caicedo publicly asked to leave, and the club stood firm — then the Ecuadorian simply carried on playing brilliantly, as if the saga had never happened.

His season numbers were elite: most tackles and interceptions in the squad by some distance, an 89 percent pass completion rate, and the engine that let Mac Allister and Pascal Gross play. The summer move to Chelsea for a British record fee of 115 million pounds was the inevitable conclusion, but Brighton's refusal to sell in January — and Caicedo's professionalism after — became a case study in how to handle a transfer storm.

Mitoma's Breakout

Kaoru Mitoma had played for the university team at Tsukuba before turning professional — an unconventional path that made his Premier League arrival easy to miss. By the end of 2022/23 nobody was missing him. His dribbling numbers led the league: more successful take-ons per game than almost any winger in Europe, and a growing catalogue of goals that began with mazy runs from his own half.

The goal against Wolves in April, when he skipped past three defenders and finished at the near post, summed up his season. Mitoma finished with 7 league goals and 6 assists, but the numbers undersold the fear he put into defences. He is rated 81 OVR in the 38-0 dataset — a very good winger, and a reminder that Brighton's recruitment saw him coming long before the rest of the league did.

Key Players & Ratings

Alexis Mac Allister (84 OVR) is the headline name — a World Cup winner who ran games from central midfield with passing range and goals from distance. Moises Caicedo (82) was the ball-winning engine before his record move, Kaoru Mitoma (81) the league's most feared dribbler, and Lewis Dunk (80) the club captain and defensive organiser.

The squad average of 78.2 sits below the 80.7 pool average, but that number flatters the tail: the top seven or eight players are genuinely good, with Pascal Gross (80), Pervis Estupinan (80) and Solly March (79) all useful. Brighton 22/23 is a value squad in draft terms — the stars are real, but the bench is thin.

Full 18-Man Squad

Best XI — Brighton 2022/23

The highest-rated eleven available from this squad in 38-0:

• GK Robert Sánchez 79 OVR
• CB Lewis Dunk 80 OVR
• LCB Levi Colwill 78 OVR
• LB Pervis Estupiñán 80 OVR
• CDM Moisés Caicedo 82 OVR
• RM Solly March 79 OVR
• CM Alexis Mac Allister 84 OVR
• CM Pascal Groß 80 OVR
• LW Kaoru Mitoma 81 OVR
• ST Danny Welbeck 78 OVR
• ST Evan Ferguson 78 OVR

Drafting This Squad in 38-0

This squad rewards knowing the hierarchy. Mac Allister is the pick for almost any team that needs a box-to-box midfielder; Caicedo is the defensive-midfield specialist; Dunk or Estupinan solve defensive needs; Mitoma is a genuine left-wing option. Take the star your XI needs most and you have converted an unfashionable landing into a strong one.

In Legend mode the trap is picking Danny Welbeck or Evan Ferguson out of name recognition and missing the real value. The 82-84 rated core is where the draft prizes live, and the gap between that core and the 74-78 tail is bigger than the squad average suggests.

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